Not mentioning the T word at all

lisakay_2

Evenin' all;). I've been keeping away from the laptop as much as i can at the moment, because when i get stuck on here i get abosolutely nothing done round the house:o, but i needed my OS fix tonight. I succumbed and put the CH on very low before, just for an hr. DH came home from work this morning and the car thermometer was reading -1.5....brrrrrrrr. Thanks to the people on the preparing for winter thread, though, the house seems to be holding the heat pretty well, what with all the draught excluders and blankets sewn to the back of the curtains...Dsis thinks I'm insane, but need to save pennies somewhere:rotfl:
I started the GC last month and from where we started I've halved our food outlay. Most of that saving comes from banning DH from shopping with me:p. It already seems to be showing the difference in our bank account, and we're moving very slowly towards the black:j.
even better, I've sorted out the freezer and I think we have enough main meals in there to last the rest of the month with some savvy planning and OS stretching (end of the month is payday on 25th for us).
I'm not holding my breath, but there may even be some money left at the end of the month for a change, or at the very least, only a bit of month left at the end of the money (touch wood/knock on wood/don't tempt fate....)

GreyQueen

lizzyb1812 wrote: »

For those of a non Terry Pratchett disposition see this for CMOT Dribbler:

http://wiki.lspace.org/wiki/Cut-Me-Own-Throat_Dibbler

For Grey Queen - if you don't write a book/sit-com I will both haunt you and wish that "you live in interesting times"

:DOoooooooooooohhhhhhhhhhh, that's a threat and a promise, as my old Grandma would say, gawd rest 'er.

If my times were any more interesting, I'd have to get a bodyguard.

Many thanks for the linkie; I'd forgotten about all the non-Ankh-Morporkian Dibblers. Which reminds me, I must put a reserve on the latest Pratchett at the library.

Life should be relatively un-chaotic for the next few hours as I'm going to work. Hang on (pauses to check phase of the moon in diary) phew, not full moon yet. We get the strangest calls in my call centre at both full and new moons. It definately seems to affect some people's behaviour. Being as it's a Monday the call-load will be intense. You'd be amazed at what goes on in this city over the weekend.:rotfl:

As a general principle, if it isn't critical to ring your L.A. on a Monday, please don't. You'll have a helluva wait.

Yesterday evening I baked biscuits (for the first time in my whole life ). I'm totally made up. It's so easy! I shall become a Cookie Monster immediately. I have also re-borrowed India Knight's The Thrift Book to refresh my skills. I stole an excellent curry recipe from there last time. I like to re-hone my scrimping skills as there is always more to learn.

I mean, shocking tho it is, I have spent £2 on an entirely frivolous item this month (DVD hire) and a shocking £12.77 on groceries, although some of that is storecupboard stuff such as bread-flour and yeast.

£14.77 in 7 days...............I know, I know, I should hang my head in shame.

I have had a thank-you email from a geezer who collected my thingummy yesterday afternoon (love it when people do that) and the other thingummy will be taken today from a hideyhole outside.

This evening I will be crossing the city boundary (memo to self; get the Techmaster to disable my tag first) in pursuit of Kulture. Or failing that, we'll get together with the bookgroup. Usual order of business; 10-15 mins of book-talk and 2 hours gossip and scarfing delicious home-made grub. What's not to like?

And I now have YaxTrax so won't be breaking limbs on icy pavements (touch wood). I have bought these for the immediately family for Crimble but have given them already with strict instructions that they are to be USED if it gets icy.

I told Mum and Dad (pushing 70) that if they leave the YaxTrax at home and slip on the ice and break a leg, it'll be no good to come running to me and expecting sympathy...........:)

This weather..............! It's daylight. I'm almost sure of it but it's so grey and horrible that I'm glad I have an office to go to as would be using lights indoors at home otherwise.

Hope everyone has a good day and finds something bargainous. If you spot the Yellow Ball anywhere, please kick it my way; my freckles have faded already and I'm now embarking on the several months of the year when I have to field concerned questions from kindly strangers who think I'm seriously ill.

:D:p Whereas I am always flippantly ill, even when incarcerated in a hospital bed. Hey, those nurses work 12 hour shifts, they need all the levity they can get.

Love and peas, GQ x

rising_from_the_ashes

lizzyb1812 wrote: »

Rising - have you thought of upstairs solutions as well as downstairs? And could the dog's bed go under the table? Is the unit in the living room more worth keeping than the table/dresser? Do the table legs come off so it could be stored under a bed? Does the dresser top come off so it could be used as a sideboard?

Actually I'm sure you've thought of all this already, but I know what it's like to have been given a treasured piece of furniture and to have to do radical furniture rearranging to fit it in.

Thanks Lizzy, honestly I've been in every room and tried to rejiggle things but no joy:(. The top will need to be removed for it to go in the kitchen as it is but TBH I'm not too worried about that - getting any extra storage is going to help so much I just don't think I can turn it down... I will phone my pal tonight (chickened out last night).

lizzyb1812 wrote: »

On a lighter note, pup and cat are coming to terms with each other, although pup's attempts at dragging cat across the floor by the scruff of her neck have not gone down well :rotfl:I did stop him, but it was funny to watch and she just got up and slapped him afterwards so no harm done.

:eek: I know who will get the upper hand out of those encounters - all our cats have been "top dog" over the years:)

GreyQueen wrote: »

Yesterday evening I baked biscuits (for the first time in my whole life ). I'm totally made up. It's so easy! I shall become a Cookie Monster immediately.

I've never tried biscuits before .... I have a deep fear that they'll be awful but an even greater one that they'll be lovely & I'll then make loads & loads & get even fatter!:o Might have to give them a bash before too long tho'.


Very chilly here overnight / this morning - have given in and set the thermostat for the heating. The house has been hovering around 12 - 14 deg for the past couple of weeks and it's been feeling really damp for the last few days so have decided it's time it went on. Still into November isn't bad for me.

I might attempt to drive later - poor car's been sitting for 8 weeks without moving an inch and it really needs a run. If I can manage to get out of the village they'll be no "clutching" needed .... again, something else I chickened out of yesterday:o. Hoping to get back to work next week so need to see if I can actually manage to drive at some point very soon.

Have a good Monday everyone.:)

Pink.

Gigervamp wrote: »

Excuse me
I've been away for a few weeks but was reading off and on and saw the new Tougher thread and was following it.

And now, it appears that those Tougher threads have disappeared but this one is in their place, but with no reference to the Tougher threads to help peeps find them.

Hi Gigervamp,

Rather than waste your time googling 'kittie' as ceridwen has suggested (because it brings up thousands of websites not related to Old Style) you can find the previous threads here:

If things get tougher?

Its Tough NOW so how are we coping?

Its STILL tough and not getting better - so how are we coping now?

Its still tough....and guess what its freezing brrrrr

It May Be Tough for six years. The survival thread.

Times are so tough - the Old Stylers have gone down the pub!

How To Get Through The Tough Times The Old Style Way!

It was getting tough in 2006 and the workhouse still threatens in 2011

Please, if I've missed any, would someone let me know and I'll update the list.

There was another thread which you may have missed. Unfortunately I can't link to it, as it has been deleted by the forum team after a member of MSE posted a blog post that was defamatory towards me and also another user. There followed a discussion about this which subsequently involved the forum team removing the whole the thread.

Pink

Edited to add...the first paragraph of this post may look strange because ceridwen has now deleted her post. Hopefully the links will still help you to find the older threads.

SDG31000

Morning everyone

The sun seems to have vanished from Leicester and according to the weather forecast, he doesn't have his hat on, he has a souwester and a bloody big brolly......oh and a torch so he can see where he is going. I really hate days like this. I just want to go back to bed and have a good cry. I will resist however.

I'm another beginner knitter. I went to a taster knitting session during Adult Education Week and then started going to the local Knit and Natter group. So far I'm up to 5 scarves and 7 pairs of handwarmers knitted as presents. I'm now attempting to knit an owl without a pattern. I'm sort of knitting a box shape and sewing it up so it has ears and then details added on in felt. I'm still at the stage where I make mistakes, but have no idea how to fix them. I might have to ask Santa for a knitting book....oh and a knitting bag.

Today I think I'm going to try to track down a few more Christmas presents. I tried talking to DH about it and got the "But it's only November" response. I find it easier to just get on with it and then tell him what he needs to get and where from. I need to find a crate to hold bottles of beer for my DFIL. I think that one is going to be a challenge.

Take care everyone xxxx

VJsmum

Hey biscuit makers - have you tried Twinks Hobnobs? They are simple and SOOOO delicious. My DD took some into school as her friends nick her home baked stuff she has in her lunch. They loved them - honestly, does NOBODY cook anymore - except us?

We had friends for the weekend - disgusting bathroom was duly scrubbed and all traces of legionella and other nasties hopefully removed It's looking quite good now - I might ban the family from using it We had to go out on Saturday Night and "ooh" and "aah" for a bit at the fireworks. I'm not a fan - it's not so much the fireworks but the cold I don't like. Why couldn't Guy Fawkes have done is "thang" in August? However it was mild and a trip to the pub beforehand blurred it round the edges a little.

The husband part of the friends said we'd served Grandma puddings - bread and butter pudding and crumbles, I don't think it was a complaint as he scoffed rather a lot. However Sandra the slow cooker over cooked the brisket which became a pile of crumbs on a plate with the odd chunk in it. It tasted delicious but wasn't in the least elegant - sums up my cooking to a T really :rotfl: and the "not in the least elegant" rather sums me up

I have a double glazing person coming this morning as our conservatory roof has a rather fine hole in it and the door to door salesman (i know, i know) caught me at the right moment.

Onwards and upwards....

mardatha

Gigervamp, as far as I'm concerned that nastyness mentioned by Pink ruined the "tough" thread entirely and I just can't seem to get into this one somehow, it's not the same.

grandma247

I was childless and dh worked till late yesterday so I spent the day clearing all the crockery and ornaments off the open shelves in the dining room. Emptied and cleaned the sideboard and chucked out a breadmaker that had stopped turning. Then most of the crockery was put in the sideboard after being washed and dried. I have decided it was the sheer amount of stuff on the shelves that was de-motivating me from doing that room regularly. A lot of it is either very old or has sentimental value so I don't want to get rid. My slimmed down stuff looks so much better and cleaner.

It took me the whole day just to do this and when I told dh he said well we are getting older y'know ! I am in my mid fifties so not THAT old. The whiplash injuries may have slowed me a bit though. I am going to have massage after seeing the physio last week so hopefully will be back to normal soon.

Hugs to those who need them, times are indeed hard for many.

Gigervamp

Thanks Pink and Mardatha.

squeaky

Gigervamp wrote: »

Excuse me
I've been away for a few weeks but was reading off and on and saw the new Tougher thread and was following it.

And now, it appears that those Tougher threads have disappeared but this one is in their place, but with no reference to the Tougher threads to help peeps find them.

Morning

The nearest thread we have to the "Tougher" ones is...

Hard Times: How to cope with everyday living

HTH